2024 in Review: Top Resources & What’s Ahead in 2025

As we welcome a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the insights, and milestones that helped shape 2024.

Over the past 12 months, we’ve not only shared blogs that resonated with you—covering topics that sparked conversations and offered guidance—but we’ve also celebrated some incredible achievements as a company.

2024 saw our biggest ever month of scans, a testament to the growing demand for digitisation and preservation. To support this, our team expanded significantly, welcoming many new starters to help deliver on some of our most ambitious projects to date. These milestones, along with your engagement, have made 2024 a truly remarkable year.

Join us as we revisit the most-read and impactful blog posts that captured your attention.

Hall of Fame - Our most popular blogs from 2024:

'TWA Digitisation Grant 2024: Winners Announcement!'

At the ARA Conference in Birmingham on August 28, 2024, we proudly announced 2024’s three TWA grant winners.

It was a fantastic moment, capping off a record-breaking year for the grant, with unprecedented downloads, submissions, and fierce competition.

The standard of applications was incredibly high, with each showcasing remarkable collections that contribute to the UK’s cultural heritage. As always, the judges faced the challenging yet rewarding task of selecting just three winners, which were:

• 1. Royal College of Surgeons of England.

• 2. Museum of Scottish Railways.

• 3. St Andrews Botanic Garden Trust.

The 2024 grant winners demonstrated not only the value of digitisation, but also the power of archives to connect the past with pressing issues of today. Congratulations to all involved for their remarkable achievements!

Keep an eye out for our upcoming case study, exploring how the Royal College of Surgeons of England utilised their digitisation grant win to preserve a valuable archival collection with us.

Read the full blog here.

'TWA Digitisation Grant 2024: Judges Top Tips for Gaining Funding'.

Each year, our dedicated and experienced panel shares insights into what they seek in a standout TWA Digitisation Grant application. And each year, they are continually impressed by the exceptional quality and diversity of projects submitted.

If you have a collection you’re passionate about digitising, don’t miss the opportunity to apply when our 2025 grant opens later this year!

Applications need to demonstrate the following criteria:

• Heritage Need: Heritage value, uniqueness, and importance of the collection.

• Social / Community Impact: How local people and communities will benefit from the collection.

• Research Value: Whether academic, social historians, genealogists, or other researchers.

• Improved Accessibility: Accessibility plans for your collection, such as platforms, preservation, and websites.

Over their years of involvement with the TWA Digitisation Grant, our judges have cultivated unique insights into what makes an application truly stand out and capture their attention.

Read the full blog to find out their top tips, here.

'A Digital Renaissance for Sherborne Museum's Glass Plate Negatives'.

Nestled in the historic northwest Dorset town of Sherborne, Sherborne Museum has been a steadfast guardian of the town’s rich history since its founding in 1968. With a mission to educate, inspire, and connect the community to its unique heritage, the museum continues to preserve and celebrate Sherborne’s remarkable past.

In a recent collaboration with TownsWeb Archiving, the museum has taken a significant step to protect and share its treasured collection of glass plate negatives. Through digitisation, these fragile artifacts have unveiled an extraordinary visual narrative of Sherborne’s history.

The collection reveals poignant images of servicemen and women, including Red Cross nurses and wounded soldiers, alongside snapshots of daily life in the town. From iconic buildings and carnival festivals to the surrounding idyllic countryside, these rediscovered negatives offer a vivid glimpse into Sherborne’s past, bringing its stories to life for future generations.

Read the full blog here.

'The Griffith Institute, a worthy winner of the TownsWeb Archiving Digitisation Grant 2023'.

In 2023, the Griffith Institute secured the prestigious TownsWeb Archiving Digitisation Grant after submitting a compelling application centered on the Amelia Edwards collection. Recognised by a panel of expert cultural heritage judges as an exemplary candidate, the Institute excelled in four key areas: heritage need, social and community impact, research value, and improved accessibility.

Wasting no time, the Griffith Institute digitised the collection—including journals, drawings, photographs, and maps—in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Amelia Edwards’ transformative journey to Egypt, which cemented her legacy as a pioneering figure in Egyptology. This achievement was particularly remarkable for a young, unmarried woman of her era.

In 2024, we revisited the Griffith Institute to explore the digitised collection in greater detail. Thanks to the support of the TownsWeb Archiving Digitisation Grant, the Griffith Institute has ensured that this invaluable collection is preserved and made accessible to audiences worldwide, securing Amelia Edwards’ legacy for future generations.

“Amelia Edwards is one of the most remarkable figures in British Egyptology, and being able to put our Edwards collection online will hopefully enable both scholars and the public to better understand her academic contribution to our field, but also appreciate her as the multi-faceted woman she was—a true patron not only of Egyptology but the arts in general.”

- Daniela Rosenow, Archivist.

Read the full blog here.

'Royal Logistic Corps Museum: Migrating a Military Archive to PastView'.

The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) Museum reached an exciting milestone in 2024, with the launch of their new website. Following a long and meticulous process, the museum successfully migrated its extensive archive into our PastView platform, transforming how its collections are managed and shared. This achievement has revolutionised the visitor experience, offering enhanced engagement and streamlined access to its rich history.

The website now features regimental journals dating back to the 19th century, enlistment books from the early 1920s, and photographs—an invaluable resource for military historians and vehicle enthusiasts alike. With a powerful advanced search tool, users can effortlessly explore and pinpoint specific records. Additionally, the archive offers flexible accessibility options, with some content freely available and other materials accessible through subscriptions or one-off purchases.

This transition to our PastView platform was executed with care, maintaining the museum’s established brand and style while creating a significant resource for the military research community. The new platform has already proven to be a game-changer, enhancing the RLC Museum’s role in preserving and sharing military history.

Read the full blog here.

What’s Ahead in 2025?

Here's what's on the horizon for 2025:

• TWA Digitisation Grant 2025
  The esteemed TWA Digitisation Grant is returning for 2025, with the winners to be announced at the ARA Conference, held at the Delta Hotels, Bristol City Centre, between 27-29th August 2025. Stay tuned for upcoming news and the grant application opening date, with hints, tips and regular releases - and perhaps this time you could be one of the three lucky winners!
  
  
• PastView goes international with 'ArchivalOne', our North American partnership
  Our access and discovery software PastView has teamed up with two industry leading organisations located in Washington, D.C - HAI and NOS. With over 100 years of combined experience, ArchivalOne offers the ultimate all-in-one archivist solution for organisations across North America - a first-of-its kind joint venture in complex historical preservation. Explore the new website here: www.archivalone.com
  
  
• TWA Insights from our digitisation technicians & the PastView publishing team
  Discover insightful content with contributions from our expert digitisation and software teams, with behind-the-scenes content.

• Learn why PastView is perfect for all manner of materials in your archive
  Targeted resources and information that drill down to exactly your material type, helping you to clearly see the advantages and benefits of PastView for your own unique collections.  

• Customer stories
  Hear all about the incredible archives undergoing digital transformations and see what they are doing to protect and captivate their audiences.

• Digitisation & Publishing Resources
  Regular campaigns driven by the creation of tailored digitisation and publishing resources, to help support heritage organisations navigate the move from physical to digital archives.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients for trusting us with your most precious archival materials. We look forward to working with you throughout 2025 and beyond!

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